Israelis Mourn 19-Year-Old Volunteer Murdered in Jerusalem Forest

Vigils and protests mounted for Ori Ansbacher, a ‘gentle soul’

With a suspect in custody and a clamoring for the death penalty in the case, the nation of Israel and the family of Ori Ansbacher, 19, brutally murdered in a Jerusalem forest while taking a walk on Thursday, mourned her loss, with her mother describing her as “a gentle soul, beautiful on the outside and inside.”

Ansbacher, a national service volunteer, was laid to rest Friday in her native Tekoa, with the alleged perpetrator, Arafat Afariah, 29 of Hebron, arrested by Israeli authorities early Saturday with the help of evidence collected at the crime scene.

Hundreds turned out for the funeral, with her bereaved mother, Ne’eh Ansbacher, beset by pain, speaking further to the media Saturday night, against the backdrop of vigils and protests against terror in Jerusalem’s Zion Square and Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square.

"Ori was beautiful on the outside and inside—a gentle soul,” she said before an array of cameras. “She lived a full life.”

"She had so much love for this land,” added the mournful mother. “She always wanted to see, to write songs, and when she walked on this land with confidence, this kind of evil came and took her away from us.”

Her father, Rabbi Gadi Ansbacher, rendered nearly speechless, managed to share with fellow mourners: “I do not believe it. I do not know what to say. I think about you now – how you saw everything so sharp and clearly. In the last year you did it, Ori, you won. You lived a whole life.”

“You taught me so much—to sing, to dance with all your light,” Ansbacher’s sister, Tama, shared with the mourners. “All the time you tried to fix things and to grow. I love you so much and I’m sorry I didn’t always tell you that, goodbye Ori.”

According to news reports, the suspect, who had been arrested twice in the past and had served time in Israel‘s Ofer Prison, was apprehended by Israeli special forces in a mosque in Al Bireh, a village near Ramallah. He has reportedly confessed to the crime, leading investigators to the scene on Sunday to reenact the murder.

According to the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, the perpetrator left with a knife heading toward the village of Beit Jala near Ramallah Thursday morning and headed into the Ein Yael forest, where he saw Ansbacher, stabbing her multiple times and killing her. Though terror is suspected, a motive had not been established conclusively. A gag order is in place prohibiting dissemination of further details of the case.

Ansbacher had headed from her workplace at the Yeelim youth center into the forest for a short walk Thursday morning to collect herself, according to friends. Her body was discovered late Thursday evening.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the security forces for their quick work and extended his condolences to the family.

“I congratulate the Shin Bet security services and the Israel Police that within a few hours captured the abominable murderer who murdered Ori Ansbacher,” said Netanyahu. “Israel's long arm reaches anyone who harms us and we will settle accounts with them.”

“In my name and on behalf of the people of Israel, I wish to express my condolences to the Ansbacher family and to strengthen them with their great grief.”

“Personally, and on behalf of all Israelis, I would like to thank the security forces for capturing the despicable terrorist who murdered Ori Ansbacher,” Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin said in a statement. “We will not be deterred and we will not cease our uncompromising fight against terrorism.”

In response to the grisly crime, ministers and lawmakers are calling for harder-line measures to be taken against the Palestinian Authority and convicted terrorists, with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and other ministers calling on prosecutors to use the death penalty in this case. Protesters in Tel Aviv Saturday night called for the same.

Though capital punishment is on the Israeli law books for use in certain extreme cases, it has only been used once—the 1962 hanging of Nazi officer and major Holocaust organizer, Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann was captured in Argentina in 1960 by the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, and sentenced to death by a Jerusalem court in a highly publicized proceeding.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Naftali Bennett is calling for the implementation of legislation that would cut funds to the Palestinian Authority by the amount that is paid out to convicted terrorists and the families of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks.

“The terrorists are no longer afraid. At this moment [they] are preparing the next terrible murder of Jews,” Bennett said in a statement.

BDE and may her memory be a blessing! Moshiach now, G-d willing!
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AnonymousPine Bushvia chabadorange.comFebruary 15, 2019

she was beaten, raped, murdered and decapitated. The killer's family will receive $3,500. / month from the "martyrs" fund for killing a Jew. A Palestine soccer team was named in his honor. He said he wanted to be a martyr.
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AnonymousJerusalemFebruary 15, 2019

Where are Shimon and Levi when we need them most? This girl, a pure soul, was not only cut to pieces but sexually assaulted. Perhaps, for once, the right and the left in Israel agree: death penalty. I only pray the government does not drag its feet and proceeds quickly. This murder has left the People of Israel in great, indescribable distress and mourning.
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A J AnyaegbunamEnugu, South Eastern NigeriaFebruary 13, 2019

Why we mourn the departed soul Ori Ansbacher, it is very important for Jews to be danger conscious and avoid walking alone in lonely and fearful places especially in the night. Even though Jews trust in Hashem a personal contribution to safety is not out of place.
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AnonymousNiagara FallsFebruary 13, 2019

The *Jewish* People mourn - rather than *Israeli*
It's more appropriate to say that the Jewish people mourn rather than the Israeli nation - there isn't such thing. Who are those? The Arabs as well? how many Arabas of Israeli nationality turned up in the funeral or came for the Shiva?
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JohnUsaFebruary 12, 2019

May Adonai bless and watch over the family and lead our leaders into the correct way to battle these terrorists
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KarlUkFebruary 11, 2019

May HaShem watch over Ori Ansbacher soul. Heal her trauma and take her forward in our time to the Living Temple Era. Where with the other righteous of Zion, she will be resurrected to her former self. And experience the full joy of the totally unfolded Mashiach Era.
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Sheldon SteinlaufPark Ridge, ILFebruary 10, 2019

Words are not enough. Only deadly force in response is required.
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AnonymousArgentinaFebruary 10, 2019

BDE , my condolences to the family and I hope Moshiach comes really soon so they can see her again.
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